Firefighters provide Christmas toys for local children

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The holiday wishes of hundreds of children from Northern Virginia were granted Monday thanks to the generosity of public safety professionals and the community.

The Fairfax county fire and rescues held their annual toy, coat and bicycle giveaway on Monday. School buses brought dozens of less-fortunate preschoolers from area day care centers to the Penn Daw Firehouse Station 11 in Alexandria.

"In the past couple of years we've gotten all of our law enforcement, the police department, the fire department, state patrol, sheriff's department and the FBI this year – it’s their first year participating in this event," said Shirley Ginwright, with the Fairfax County communities of trust.

The department says the main thing they want to make sure is that no kid wakes up Christmas morning without a gift.

Battalion Chief of Community Outreach & Public Affairs for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Willie F. Bailey Sr. started the event more than a decade ago.

"We started doing this approximately 16 years ago helping a couple of hundred kids. And every year it got bigger and bigger and bigger," Bailey said.

All of the kids left with huge smiles on their faces and a wonderful Christmas gift!